Global Defense: The Murder of Baxter Sarno
by The Wilky Bar Kid
Summary: GD-series main story. It's one year since the incident at Atlas Arena and Caprica's most notorious celebrity, Baxter Sarno, is found dead. Little does Agent Jack Bowman know that the outcome of his investigation will affect everyone in the Colonies
1. Day 1A

**This is the first main story outing for my Global Defense series. The GD stories fit into the same timeline as my Hermes stories although the two are not directly related. Jack Bowman is Artimus Bowman's Great Grandfather.**

* * *

**Caprica City**

Cases come and go. When you've been in this job long enough most of them start to blur together into one big mess of history sat somewhere in your mind slowly fading as time passes. Only a few actually leave an impression on you. They are the ones that remain clear in your mind for the rest of your life. Often it's because of some horrific thing that you've seen during the course of that particular investigation.

For that reason I can still remember my first murder case back when I was a cop in Delphi. That was almost twelve years ago now but I still remember the sight of that body strewn across the floor of his apartment, the hole in his chest stained dark with blood. He had been shot by his distraught wife after she discovered he was having an affair. If I think back hard enough I could probably describe every single item in that room and how it looked on that day.

I joined the Global Defense Department thinking I had seen everything already with the Police. Boy was I wrong! It was with the G.D.D. that I discovered the world of intercolonial crime rings, people trafficking and terrorism. It was a whole new game and I learned it fast. I don't like to say I've become cold to such things but the truth is it doesn't bother me anymore as much as it used to. These days it's rare for me to be confronted by something that sticks in my memory after the case is over. I said before that the things you remember are usually the sights you see in this job but occasionally you remember ones because of something else. Usually you don't appreciate it at the time of the case and it's only much later that you truly appreciate the enormity of the events that you find yourself involved in.

It was exactly like that one Saturday morning when I came down to breakfast. I had no idea what the events of that Saturday and the corresponding days would mean in the grander scheme of things as I lived them but they were probably some of the most important of my life and indeed the people of the Twelve Colonies.

If only I knew then what I know now.

It had been a year since the so-called Battle of Atlas Arena when the S.T.O. attempt to blow up the stadium was thwarted by Cylons of the Caprican Marines. Since then the terrorist group had pretty much fizzled down to nothing. Once we had identified Clarice Willow as the head of the Caprican cell it was only a matter of time before we found the evidence we needed to take out the whole contingent including, much to our embarrassment, Director Singh who had been feeding the S.T.O. information directly from within the G.D.D. Unfortunately Clarice Willow herself had managed to elude us so far.

The news channels no longer had regular features on the S.T.O. and instead had moved on to covering the integration of the Cylon artificial race into Caprican society, a goal made all the more easy by the battle at Atlas Arena. There were those who believed that the whole thing was a marketing ploy by Daniel Graystone to sell Cylons and repair the damage his daughter's involvement with the S.T.O. had done to his company. I admit that there was a time when I believed it but since then I've been made aware of more and more classified information regarding the whole affair and I know better.

When I walked into the kitchen that Saturday morning I found my wife Emma and my thirteen year old son Archie were already sitting down to breakfast. At the height of the S.T.O. threat it was seldom that I got a Saturday off. Now that they were mostly a memory as far as Caprica was concerned things had returned pretty much to normal. Things between me and Emma weren't so stressed by my being called into work all the time and it meant there was more time for us as a family and no amount of cubits could ever replace that.

"Morning all," I greeted as I took my seat at the kitchen table and lifted up the newspaper that Emma had folded in half having finished with it herself.

"What have you got planned today?" Emma asked us sitting in her grey business suit as she blew on her hot coffee that she always had before heading out to work; she was the manageress of a nearby hotel.

Before I could speak, Archie quickly interrupted and said, "Me and John are going to play Pyramid down at the leisure centre."

"On a Saturday!" I said. "You'll be lucky to get a court free."

"It's ok," said Archie. "John's dad has got one reserved for us."

"Really," I said in disbelief. "Is it John's birthday or something?"

"No," said Archie firmly.

Emma turned from Archie to look at me as she explained, "John's father has been promoted at work. I was talking to Sylvie about it the other week."

"Oh yeah? What does he do now to give Daniel Graystone more money than he's already got?"

"He's been made a supervisor down at the Cylon plant," she answered.

"Well, good for him," I said truthfully.

"Oh my Gods!" yelled Archie suddenly.

"Hey what have I told you about that?" said Emma unhappy about the way our son spoke of the Gods, she had always been a more devout believer in them than I.

"Look!" said Archie pointing at the small television set that sat on the counter behind me.

I turned around to see what he was referring to. The news was on and beside the anchorwoman was a picture of Baxter Sarno, a leading entertainment figure on Caprican television and one who was known for his controversy. In bold letters under the screen the title of the story that had interrupted the regular viewing read; BAXTER SARNO FOUND DEAD IN DRESSING ROOM.

Stunned by the news I reached over and turned up the volume to listen to what the woman had to say, the sound cutting in halfway through her sentence.

"…that he was suffering from a cardiac condition but that has yet to be determined as the cause of death. Unfortunately we cannot say anymore until the Police have completed their enquiries. Once more, Baxter Sarno has been found dead in his dressing room at the television studio his show was produced at here in Caprica City. The cause of death has yet to be ascertained and the Police are investigating."

In a technological society such as the one on Caprica we often hear about celebrities whom we've never met suddenly dieing. It's one of those more unusual aspects of such societies that we thus have an emotional response to the news of their death even though we never meet them in person.

For me it was one of indifference. This news, although surprising, did not incur pity from me or sadness. I hated the man. I thought he was vulgar and disrespectful and although I wouldn't have wished death upon him I wasn't sorry that I would never have to hear his voice again.

We sat and watched the news for the next half hour while we finished our breakfast. No further news became available to us other than Sarno was dead and so the news team resorted to showing clips of some of his most well known interviews including the most notorious one, that with Amanda and Daniel Graystone almost a year ago.

Emma finished her breakfast and left for work. A short while after that John and his father arrived to pick up Archie and I was left on my own. I knew I should have used the time to do some of the things around the house I had promised I would get on with when I had a day off but I lacked the enthusiasm to get started and was instead distracted by a documentary on the First Tauron Uprising. Documentaries like this were being played almost every single day since the events portrayed in them had a lot to do with what was happening on Tauron then during the Second Uprising.

It was half way through the documentary that my phone buzzed indicated that it had received a text message. I scrambled inside my denim trousers and dragged it out before clicking OPEN and I read the message on the screen.

Sender; DURAM  
Message; COFFEE?

Even though there was a question mark at the end of the message I knew that it wasn't really an option to say no. Therefore I dragged myself to my feet, put on my shoes and reached for my car keys. I knew where Deputy Director Jordan Duram liked to meet for coffee and so I started driving to Caprica City Park.

Jordan, Emma and I went back years all the way to High School. Where once we were fierce friends it was Emma who unintentionally came between me and Jordan. We had both fallen for her and for a time during our senior year she was with him. I accepted it and thought it would be left there but Jordan soon became jealous whenever I spent anytime with her as friends without him. In the end she couldn't take it anymore and left him. Blaming me, Jordan cut himself away from the two of us and in doing so drew me and Emma closer.

Jordan married since then and had his own son but they separated just before I joined the G.D.D. While the old hostility seems to have been buried things are still tense between me and him. It's like neither of us knows how to behave around one another. That said I do believe he trusts me since he often calls me into his office for an opinion. I would liked to have called him a friend again but I don't think either of us were ready to make that leap.

I found Jordan sitting on his usual bench with two cups of coffee resting in a polystyrene tray. Resting up against the bench beside him was a steel walking stick that he carried everywhere with him. He had to have the stick with him ever since he was shot by an S.T.O. sniper in the run up to the incident at Atlas Arena. Since then he had returned to the G.D.D. and had been selected to replace Singh at the Caprica City branch.

As I walked towards him he removed the two cups before placing them down on the bench and then tossing the tray away into the bin beside the bench.

"Jack," said Jordan in greeting as he handed me cup.

"Jordan," I replied in acknowledgement as I took the coffee he offered me. "Thank you."

"Black with two sugars?" he asked.

"You know well enough by now," I replied as I sat down beside him and tested the coffee by sipping it carefully not to burn my mouth.

"Nice day don't you think so?"

"Not for Baxter Sarno," I said stifling a somewhat callous laugh.

"I see you've watched the news today," said Jordan plainly.

"Certainly have; heart attack is what they're saying."

"Well that's what they thought until an hour ago," said Jordan before taking a sip of his coffee.

"Oh?"

"It seems the Cap City Police coroner had his coffee today too. During the post mortem he found traces of Scorpian Lilly. Ever heard of it?"

"No," I replied honestly assuming it was some kind of lesser known narcotic.

"It's a plant that grows in the Demeter Jungle on Scorpia. It seems if you mix it up a certain way you can turn it into a poison that's almost untraceable. The poison itself works by inducing coronary distress. In Sarno it probably would have gone unnoticed too if the coroner hadn't spent time with the Intercolonial Aid Service providing inoculations to Scorpians to fight Red Fever."

"So somebody knocked him off?"

"Seems that way although if you read the toxicology report you'd wonder why whoever did it didn't just wait for him to do it himself. He had enough stuff in his system to open his own Pharmaceutical Company."

"Is this why you bought me a coffee?" I asked putting my investigative skills to use to figure out why he had called me on a Saturday.

"Officially," he began, "this is still a local Police affair."

"Come on, Jordan," I chortled. "You didn't drag me out here to treat me to coffee. Get to it!"

"Alright," he said before taking another drink to moisten his throat. "Sarno made a lot of enemies in his time. He liked to make a joke out of everything from the Community Tax to the S.T.O. and he pissed off a lot of people in the process. He hurt a lot of them too in particular, Clarice Willow."

I was taking a drink of my coffee as he said those words and I almost choked on it as I laughed at his suggestion that Clarice Willow was somehow involved in this whole affair.

"Clarice Willow! You think Clarice Willow is involved in this somehow?"

"It's an outside chance, I'll admit that much," said Jordan who clearly didn't find the notion as funny as I did. "This was clearly a professional assassination. Whoever did it had knowledge of rare poisons and the resources with which to obtain it and utilize it. It sounds S.T.O. to me."

"Well if you want to go down the organized road there are others to consider as well," I said. "The Hal'a'Tha for instance. We've had plenty of evidence to suggest that the Hal'a'tha is supporting the uprising on Tauron and Sarno liked to make a joke out of that too. You know how those guys are about honor. Then there are these new ones from Canceron who have been sticking their noses in; the Basileus. They have been making advances on Scorpia and Leonis and we know they're in the drug trafficking game. If Sarno was doped up to the eyeballs he might have been getting his stuff from them."

"Those are some good theories," said Jordan to my surprise, it was not often he paid anyone a compliment and I knew there was a catch. "That's why I want you to look into it for me. Keep it low key for the time being, we don't want the Cap City Police to think we're treading on their toes just yet."

Jordan finished the last of his coffee and threw it into the bin before reaching for his walking stick to help him stand up.

"Would this be optional?" I asked making a joke.

"No!" was the firm answer from my boss as he limped away using the walking stick to keep him upright.

Little did I know that I had just been set on a path towards something that would affect billions. I expected to just make a few enquiries, find out that Sarno was killed by a drug baron and be done with it. If only it was that simple.


	2. Day 1B

_Every once in a while you get thrown a curve ball._

That's what my adoptive father used to say whenever life dealt him something unexpected. Like a curve ball it can go one way or the other depending on who was throwing and of course who was catching. In this instance I guess I was the catcher.

A shower, a shave, a change of clothes and a twenty minute car ride after my meeting with Jordan, I found myself walking into Caprica City Police's Precinct 27 with little or no clue about how I was going to proceed with this one. _Low Key_ he said. Just what the frak does that mean exactly? Coming from Jordan Duram that particular instruction seemed somewhat hypocritical. He was a man who was anything but low key in the way he went about his business. He was as subtle as a nuclear warhead and on occasion just as friendly.

The main reception of the precinct was flooded with people. It didn't take too much of my investigative skills to quickly realize that they were almost all reporters, some mainstream while others were freelance, all trying to scoop that big story; just why is Baxter Sarno dead?

The poor Desk Sergeant rubbed his temple as he repeated the words, "A statement will be made in due course!" over and over again each time with greater ferocity. "Now will you please get back unless you have any genuine Police business."

The head of the crowd dispersed as a result of the Desk Sergeant's persistence but this only left a vacuum that was quickly filled by those at the rear and soon a fresh wave of questions were hurled at the poor middle aged man. I knew that if I went up to him and just flashed my badge I too would get swamped by them the only difference being I didn't have a desk to hide behind. Therefore I kept my ID in my jacket as I fought my way forwards.

"Yes?" sighed the Sergeant through a bushy grey moustache.

"I have an appointment," I replied rather cryptically knowing there were at least twenty sets of ears within range.

"With whom exactly?" grumbled the Desk Sergeant. Of course in reality I didn't have an appointment and so I repeated what I said while lifting my jacket up just enough for the Sergeant to see my G.D.D. shield hanging underneath and just long enough for him to recognize it. "You'd better come around."

The Desk Sergeant opened the small door beside the desk to let me behind. He had clearly understood my desire not to create anymore of a scene than was already taking place in the Precinct and in his own way I think he was thankful about it although he didn't show it. Once we were away from prying eyes I announced myself properly and allowed the Desk Sergeant to fully inspect my I.D.

"Alright Agent Bowman," he said. "What can I do for you?"

"I understand that a Lieutenant Galanos is heading up the investigation into Baxter Sarno's murder?"

The Desk Sergeant's eyebrows lifted upwards in surprise. It was not yet public knowledge that Sarno had been poisoned and even within the Precinct only a few knew about that particular detail.

"Yes he is," confirmed the Sergeant but nothing more than that which if I was honest irritated me a little. I was sick to death of the rivalry between the Caprica City Police and the G.D.D. Even when I was a cop in Delphi we saw the G.D.D. as an asset rather than a burden – ok there were one or two of them who were so up their own rears we could probably roll them out the door but they were the exception. Here it was a whole new story and quite a surprising one for me.

"Can I see him?" I asked after a rather short and impolite silence had followed the Sergeant's confirmation.

"He's very busy at the moment," he explained subtly hinting for me to go away unless I did genuinely have an appointment. I wouldn't be deterred so easily.

"Could you at least ask him for me?"

The Sergeant made a not-so-subtle huffing noise as he turned around and reached for a phone that sat perched on the wall near the door we had walked in through. He quickly dialed a number and waited for a response.

"Yes sir…I have an Agent Bowman from the G.D.D. here wanting to speak to you about Baxter Sarno…No sir." There was suddenly a long pause on the Sergeant's side of the conversation and I could just about make out the faint sound of a voice speaking quite loudly on the other side. Eventually it calmed down and the Sergeant finished with, "Yes sir." He hung up the telephone handset and turned back to me. "You're in luck. He says you can have five minutes."

A rather sarcastic voice whispered in my head, _I feel honoured_.

The Sergeant grabbed a young officer who just happened to be passing in the adjacent corridor and instructed him to take me to Galanos' office before he returned to his desk to once more do battle with the crowd. It was a short walk through the open plan offices to a glassed off area that the officer pointed at indicating it was Galanos' private office.

Through the glass I could see a man in his late forties with a finely shaved head and an impressive physique. He was clearly a man who took good care of himself and as I approached his door I felt his beady eyes fall upon me and they were not welcoming.

"Come in!" he instructed clearly before I even had a chance to knock. In a primal interpretation of this seemingly insignificant act he was signifying his dominance in this environment. I've spent most of my career around people like him so I know how to handle them. It's all a question of give and take.

"Jack Bowman, G.D.D." I announced stepping slowly into his office not wanting him to think I was simply barging in and taking over. Strictly speaking I had no right to since this wasn't a G.D.D. investigation - yet. I was simply being…_Low Key_.

"What!" grumbled Galanos. "No badge?"

"You want to see my badge, sure, no problem," I said to him as I took it out of my jacket for him to inspect. I knew that he didn't really care. He knew his Desk Sergeant would have confirmed my identity before I even stepped foot through the door at reception. This was simply another act of him imposing his authority. "Satisfied?"

"Alright." Galanos leaned back into his tall leather chair as he looked at me. "So what can I do for you Agent Bowman? I wasn't expecting a call from the Global Defense Department."

"I'm here on a strictly observatory basis," I replied knowing it was now time for me to make my move. "May I sit down?"

"Be my guest," he replied the atmosphere still remaining hostile. At that point in time he had little respect for me and the feeling was mutual. Now I would need to establish the foundation with which to build on. I took the seat in front of his desk and sat down. Galanos remained motionless as he continued to watch me sizing up everything I was doing even if he didn't know he was doing so. It's one of those natural things.

"As I said I'm here on an observatory basis only," I told him as neutrally as I could.

"Regarding Sarno's death?"

"I was lead to believe it was a murder. Scorpion Lilly poisoning I believe?"

"You're obviously well informed?" he phrased as a question.

"Well we like to keep our eye on certain things that might later involve us. It makes it easier when the call is made."

"But nobody has called you yet so I ask you Agent Bowman, why are you here today?"

"There are elements within the G.D.D. who feel that Baxter Sarno's murder may be linked to organized crime rings here on Caprica. There is also the possibility of a political motive. Either way the case would fall under our jurisdiction."

"I see so you're here doing the groundwork is that it?"

"Exactly," I replied. "I'm not here to get in your way and I won't be hanging about your office either."

"You'll just keep your foot in the door," he said, a metaphor I liked and couldn't help but raise a smile to. "Since you have no official authority at this point why then should I cooperate at all? Hmm, what's in it for me?"

"The resources of the G.D.D." I announced as If I was offering him the contents of the vault in the Bank of Libran. "I know how restricted your intelligence network is outside of your own district. That's why you've been having such a hard time building cases against suspected members of groups like the Hal'la'tha. With the G.D.D.'s computer network I'm sure we could smooth over your investigation if this is as we suspect a result of Sarno's involvement with organized crime."

"How do I know you will have my department's interests at heart and not just your own?"

"You set the terms?" I suggested knowing it would play right into my hands if he thought he was the one calling the shots. It seemed to work as I watched his bottom lip curve up over his top one as he liked the sound of what I was saying.

A silence filled the room broken only by the ticking of a small analogue clock positioned on his desk between me and him. As Galanos continued to just sit there pondering my offer for what now felt like hours the ticking seemed to get louder until it felt like there was a Woodpecker sitting on my shoulder chipping out a hole into the side of my skull. Finally he did something that broke the sound of the clock. He reached into the top drawer of his desk and produced a small Digital Storage Device, or D.S.D., which he proceeded to place into the side of the computer that sat on his desk. He accessed his files and began to transfer data onto the D.S.D.

"I take it you're accepting my offer?" I asked as politely and without a hint of arrogance in order to maintain the illusion that he was in total control.

"My terms!" he growled. "Here's the deal; you don't do anything without an I-SAY-SO from me. If I want any information from you and the G.D.D., I get it with no ifs or buts. In turn I will keep you informed of any developments we make on this end. Agreed?"

"Absolutely," I said feeling quite pleased with myself for this had gone better than I thought. "That's all I want." The computer bleeped that it was finished transferring the data to the D.S.D. and Galanos removed it before handing it over to me. I placed the small device no bigger than a cigarette lighter into my shirt pocket before standing up to shake his hand and thank him. "I'm glad we could be professional about this."

"Me too," he said but in a vague fashion as I noticed he was looking over my shoulder out through the glass of his office. Seeing that I was picking up on that he was distracted by something he quickly added, "Uh, why don't you show yourself out. As I'm sure you can guess I'm pretty busy here today."

"Of course," I said before turning to leave. As I turned my back to him I saw what it was he was looking at. The same officer who had escorted me in was fast approaching the office once more with yet another visitor in this instance a rather glum looking girl aged about eighteen with long dark hair and a pale expression pasted on her face.

I held the office door open as the officer stepped inside but before he could say anything, Galanos waved the girl to come in. I looked at her as she passed by me. There was an almost tangible negative energy flowing around her that seemed to infect everything that passed nearby. She looked rather nervously at me for only a split second before looking back at Galanos who took on a more compassionate persona at the sight of her as opposed to the territorial bulldog he was with me.

_Perhaps it's his daughter?_

Not thinking this had any relevance to my visit I once again nodded my appreciation to Galanos and left.

I walked across the car park to where my car was waiting. As I approached my black Scorpia Sedan I took out my phone from inside my jacket and went through the menu screen until Jordan Duram's number appeared. Before I pressed the button for it to begin dialing I took a quick look around to see who was in earshot. This was not a conscious act but rather it was more out of habit for there are ears everywhere and one careless word could make its way into the news before the call is even over.

"Hey Jack!" announced the voice after the dial tone rang three times in my ear. "What have you got?"

I leaned with my back against my parked car as I replied, "I've just spoken to the officer in charge of the investigation into Sarno's death. He's reluctant to cooperate fully until he has to submit to our authority but I've managed to strike a deal that at least gets us a look in. He's turned over everything he's got so far so I'm heading home to take a look at it."

"Well how did you manage that?" he asked bemused.

"I have my ways," I said. "Oh by the way I may need a blank check for a few things over the next couple of days?"

"A blank check for what?"

"Well If I knew that I wouldn't need a blank check now would I?"

"Guess not," mumbled Jordan who was always irritated by things that weren't neat and tidy amongst his subordinates; another hypocritical facet of his personality since he himself was known for creating a mess every now and again.

"I'm going to go through what I got from the Caprica City Police and I'll call you later."

"Alright, I'll be waiting for it," he said and with that he hung up.


	3. Day 1C

The weather had turned by the time I got home that afternoon. Rain had now crawled in over the city invading the outer suburbs I lived first. I pulled into the driveway and switched off the engine of the car leaving the interior to reverberate with the sound of water droplets hitting against the roof and windows.

I didn't peel myself out of the driver's seat straight away. Instead I sat there for a few moments feeling myself get consumed by the relaxation that came from not having to drive any further. Why was I so tired? I put it down to having to work on a Saturday when I expected to have the day off and so brushing it off I stepped out of the car to be greeted by a splash of rainwater against my face. I quickly dashed for the house with my key in hand ready to let myself in. Once inside I brushed off the rainwater on my face before removing my jacket which dripped onto the carpet.

"Dad!" called out Archie who came into the hallway from the living room still wearing his sports kit.

"Hey son," I said before seeing his kit and remembering he had gone to play Pyramid with his friend. "How was the game? Did you have a good time?"

"It was ok," he replied with only minor enthusiasm.

"Lost huh?"

"Yeah," he moaned.

"Well, you learn more from the losses than you do from the wins," I said hoping to comfort his disappointment.

"I guess. You been to work?"

"What makes you say that?" I asked him surprised that he had figured it out without me having to tell him.

"That's your work jacket. You only where that when you go to work."

I must admit that I was mildly impressed with him for his deduction. It was such a simple thing to notice, I personally hadn't realized I selected that particular jacket for work, but he had picked up on it.

"Are you sure you're still set on becoming a pilot?" I asked as I walked towards him before kissing him on the forehead, something I had done when he was a baby and just hadn't grown out of it. "You'd make one hell of a cop."

"I'm sure," he said, it being clear he had no interest in giving up his dream of flying. "So why did you have to go in?"

He followed me into the living room as I sat down onto the sofa positioned strategically in front of the TV. He sat beside me as I picked up the TV remote and started scanning the TV channels for the News.

"Just work," I said hoping to brush him off. He would not be dissuaded.

"Is it anything to do with Sarno?"

"What makes you say that?" I asked trying to hide my surprise.

"Oh my Gods it is isn't it?" he said with an air of excitement reminiscent of a puppy with a new ball. I knew there was no point hiding it from him.

"Hey! Keep it to yourself do you understand? I could get in some serious trouble if people think the GDD is looking into this, clear?"

"My lips are sealed," he said reassuringly. "So who do you think did it? Monos?"

"Why is it fashionable to blame Monotheists for everything these days? Anyway what I think doesn't really matter at this point it's still a Police investigation. We're just keeping an eye on things."

During the course of our conversation I had found the news channel. As I expected Sarno was still the topic of the day. The only difference between this morning's broadcasts and the one I was now watching was that now the news was reporting the death as suspicious, something that had sent the media into a frenzy.

Galanos appeared on the screen as he made his press conference not long after I had visited him. It was all the usual stuff you'd expect from a Police press conference regarding a major crime.

_If anyone has information…etc…etc…etc._

I've seen so many by now and even participated in a few myself that they all seem to blur together and lose any specific interest as a result. Handling the press was something I had to learn very quickly as a cop in Delphi. Finally, after several minutes about Sarno the news changed to something different.

The anchorwoman appeared on the screen and read, "And now in other news there were acts of vandalism and rioting outside the headquarters of GKL Construction, one of Caprica's largest construction companies, when it was announced that over one thousand five hundred workers were being made redundant as part of a cost cutting measure while at the same time the company has purchased eight hundred construction Cylons produced by Graystone Industries. Many believe that the workers were laid-off so that the Cylons could be brought in to do the work more cheaply. This claim was rebuffed by a spokesperson for the company as being untrue but this is now the sixth company in the last month that has seen riots following reductions in staff corresponding to the acquisition of Cylons. When asked for an official comment from Graystone Industries Daniel Graystone simply said that whatever happens to the Cylons after their purchase is not the responsibility of Graystone Industries or any of its subsidiaries."

After the story had finished playing Archie piped up with, "My teacher thinks that it's only a matter of time before they build a Cylon to do her job."

I did what I could to stifle a laugh, "I think everyone's going to be worried. There's a lot these Cylons can do, the key is to remember that there will always be a need for people in the workforce. A Cylon can be as smart as your teacher but that doesn't mean it knows how to teach."

"Very 'Big Picture' of you Dad," Archie said. I assumed it was meant as a compliment.

The phone on the wall began to ring. My biggest fear was that it was going to be the GDD wanting me out somewhere yet again. I knew there was a chance of quite a few things that it could be, there was never a shortage of trouble on Caprica. If it wasn't the STO then it was the Taurons. If it wasn't the Taurons then it might be some other criminal group trying to muscle in on the action."

I picked up the receiver and said, "Hello."

"Hey Jack! It figures that the day we have a cookout planned the frakking rain has to come and get in the way," Ian Grant, a fellow GDD agent said. I knew Ian from about four years ago when we worked a case with the Oxford Division of the GDD.

"You just have to gamble with the weather here sometimes, who were you having over?" I asked trying to make small talk before I found out just what it was he was calling about.

"I was having Andrea Randle and Bruno Milone over, since that surveillance case came our way and we got grouped together we've become tight."

"Nothing wrong with that," I said before finally asking, "Is there something I can do for you Ian?"

"I heard the news and the rumour mill around here is buzzing that you got the call on the investigation. I just wondered if it was true."

"Well I think it would be in appropriate of me to comment on any _Police_ investigation," I quipped hinting that it was an unofficial investigation. When you've been in the GDD for so long you get to understand the hidden meanings in otherwise innocent conversations. "You know that's all I can say and just keep it that way."

"Of course it'll stay between us. You know I got a letter from Carani's nephew the other day."

I was hoping to end the call but that got my attention, "What did he have to say?"

"Just that we framed his uncle for those murders and that he's not going to rest until he proves it…you know how the rest of these type of letters go."

I had to admit the way Ian was phrasing it got me to laugh. Aldan Carani had built up a trafficking business in Oxford, when the GDD began to get too close he had two of the GDD agents assigned to the case killed when one of his people ran their car off a steep embankment in the Macona Forest. The intensity placed on Carani brought to his downfall. He of course maintained his innocence and blamed the Taurons for setting him up so they could take over his business.

"I take it you aren't taking the threat very seriously?" I asked.

"Come on, Jack, how long you been in this game now? If I stuck my head under the blankets everytime some crook was threatening to get me then I might as well stick a pair of long white ears on my head and become a frakking Rabbit."

I couldn't help but chuckle. "Ok buddy. I'll see you at the office on Monday. I've got some stuff to look over."

"See ya Jack," came the reply before the phone went dead and I hung up.

I left Archie watching the television in the living room and made my way upstairs to the master bedroom where my wife and I slept. Walking into the room I was greeted by an unmade bed and several bundles of clothes that had formed over time. Ever since Emma and I started living together we had always made an effort to keep a clean house. By contrast however we believed that the bedroom was our domain and no one else's and therefore we didn't care if it was a mess.

I took off my shirt and loosened the buckle of my belt before taking out the DSD Galanos had given me containing all the data that he had already accumulated on the Sarno case and placed it into my own computer which sat in the corner of the room. I pulled out the chair and sat in it while I waited for the DSD to load up. To my surprise the amount of information stored on the memory of the DSD was relatively small.

A series of folder icons appeared on the screen each with different file names. It seemed Galanos had made an effort to investigate Sarno's movements over the last three days of his life. I moved the cursor over the icon labeled crime scene and clicked. A video file was located inside and included a second semi-circular icon beside it. This indicated that it was Holoband compatible. I don't feel like I'm getting too old for new gadgets and gizmos but I am a bit weary of Holobands. I don't like the idea of a device that can manipulate my brainwaves to produce sights, sounds and images that only exist in my head. That said I'm not afraid to have a go and so I reached into the drawer underneath the desk where the computer sat and took out my wife's Holoband.

I switched it on and the computer read that it was uplinked securely. I could now put it on. I was still rather clumsy at putting on the band and it took some playing with it to get it to sit properly. Once it was in place I felt the odd tingling sensation one usually gets when using one of these devices before I found I was no longer in my bedroom – or at least so it appeared. Instead I found myself on the side of a snow capped hill at a skiing resort. Clearly Emma had not ended her last session on this thing and so I used my mind to send a message to the Holoband to take me to the main menu screen.

I was now in a round shaped room with no doors. The walls were the same colour as my computer screen and the same icons were now sitting in front of me once more only now they were suspended in thin air and were about the size of a book. I told my arm to select the video file from the crime scene and the next thing I knew I was transported to where the body of Baxter Sarno had been found.

I was in his dressing room at the television studio. I couldn't manipulate what I saw in anyway since I could only see what the person holding the video camera could see. Sarno's body lay slumped in his chair in front of the mirror. It looked as though he had just come off stage since the top buttons of his shirt were opened and the knot on his tie had been pulled down several inches in an untidy fashion.

I could see why the initial theory was natural causes. There was absolutely no sign of a struggle in the room. It looked like Baxter Sarno had simply sat in his chair, loosened his clothes and died. It was almost the perfect murder.

The camera started to pan around to examine the scene a little closer. There were several crime scene officers in the room taking additional photographs and samples from the furniture. I would check later if the results of those tests were included on the DSD.

The camera now moved around through one hundred and eighty degrees until it faced the open doorway. Standing in the doorway was Galanos talking to a weeping young woman. Her hand was near her tear soaked face and it was not until she pulled it away that I realized that I had seen her earlier that day at Galanos' office. He seemed very comforting to her perhaps more so than a Police officer should be but before I could view anymore the camera panned around again to video the rest of the room before suddenly it went black. The video had ended.

I returned to the main menu screen and started sifting through the other files all of which were read-only documents until I found another movie file. I thought that since I already had the Holoband on I would watch this file as well before taking the uncomfortable thing off. The icon was labeled with yesterday's date on it. I selected the icon and the video began to play.

I found myself in a large open plan house beside a lake. It was not long before I recognized where I was for I had been in this house in the real world just a few months earlier on a GDD raid. I was in the home of Daniel and Amanda Graystone. All around me there were people setting up ready to begin filming an interview. Unlike the Police video there were several cameras linked to this video file although I couldn't see any of them since I was looking through them. This meant that I could interact a bit more with this file and look around the room at what was going on.

To my right I could see Daniel Graystone having make-up applied to his face. He was quietly chatting with the make-up artist and the two of them seemed to have quite a good rapport. I couldn't hear what they were saying since none of the microphones were close enough so I moved on.

Sitting far in the back of the room all by herself was Amanda Graystone. She sat on the large leather sofa that was positioned to give the Graystones a breathtaking view of the lake outside their home. Looking at her, I saw she was in fact wearing a Holoband and as such seemed oblivious to all that was going on around her. I wondered just what it was she was doing on that thing that was more important than her husband's interview; no doubt one of his latest efforts to repair the damage done by the revelation that his daughter was one of the STO terrorists who had blown up the Maglev. It had since been known rather loosely as the Zoe Graystone Affair.

"Hey Billy, are you sure those things are working properly?" chortled a voice. I looked around and saw Baxter Sarno walking towards me. He stopped no less than a few inches from where my body appeared to be and it looked as though he was examining me from head to toe. "They sure are freaky aren't they?"

"Admiring my work, Baxter?" asked Daniel Graystone who was now making his way towards Sarno. It was then I realized what they were talking about. The cameras that I was viewing this scene through were fitted to Cylons.

"Well they're cheaper than paying cameramen's wages," joked Sarno. "Those guys are thieves. Well shall we get on with this?"

I settled in to watch as the interview began. As usual Baxter Sarno started with some rather crude jokes most of which were at Graystone's expense. Eventually however the interview became more serious in tone as the topic moved on to the rapid integration of Cylons into Caprican society.

It was Sarno who best summed up what Archie and I were discussing earlier, "…'cause I'm hearing talk about Cylon butlers, Cylon nurses, how long before my niece Candice comes home with her Cylon fiancé to introduce to the family?"

Graystone seemed to scoff at the notion however. It seemed that he was the only one who had managed to maintain his objectivity after all he had created the Cylons. "Well, I think people are smart enough to realize that, as useful as they are, Cylons are simply tools, nothing more. To forget that, to blur the distinction between man and machine, and attribute human qualities, is folly. There is no way to know what lies ahead, really, this technology, it has taken us the last few steps to the mountain pass but beyond, it's undiscovered country."

The interview began to wind down until Sarno wished his viewers good night. Sarno and Graystone stood up and shook hands while exchanging pleasantries to one another it. It was obvious however to even the most rookie cop that their relationship was strained. The damage that Sarno had inflicted to Graystone Industries over the Zoe Graystone Affair and indeed to Daniel Graystone himself still reverberated in the papers and on the net.

Amanda Graystone suddenly came into view escorted by a man in a dark blue suit carrying a briefcase in one hand and his hat in the other. From my perspective she was blocking the man's face. Watching the interview I had lost track of what she had been doing and it was clear she had left the room when it started. I would review the video later to confirm that just in case it was important.

"Daniel!" she called over in such a way as to imply they had been waiting for the man in the suit to arrive.

"Oh yes of course," said Daniel to her before turning to Sarno and saying, "Excuse me wont you Baxter."

"Of course, we're done here anyway," replied Sarno.

Daniel walked towards the man with his hand outstretched. Amanda stood aside and I saw the man's face for the first time.

"Oh my Gods!" I gasped as I watched Daniel Graystone shake hands with Joseph Adama, a known member of the Ha'la'tha crime organization. Just twenty four hours later Baxter Sarno would be dead.

* * *

**A/N – This interview is based on the one seen at the end of the series viewed a year after the incident at Atlas arena.**

**I'd like to give a nod to Wes Imlay who wrote the Ian Grant telephone call for me in this chapter**


	4. Day 1D

The rain showed no signs of letting up as the afternoon gave way to evening. I had sent a message to Duram telling him I had found something interesting regarding Sarno but I hadn't told him what. That was over two hours ago and he had yet to call me back. Since then I had accessed my work computer to check the files we had on Joseph Adama to help refresh my memory. I then replayed the holoband recording several times trying to find something I had missed the first time but nothing had materialized by the time Emma had come home from work. Hearing the sound of her dropping her keys onto the table downstairs I decided to call it a day and I made my way to greet her.

She stood in the kitchen with a towel wiping dry her rain soaked hair. When she had finished her once tidy mane of jet black hair was now a mess of dark strands protruding from her skull like some nest of black vipers, an image I found quite amusing as it reflected her sometimes fierce temper.

"Nice look," I said to her leaning against the doorframe to the kitchen.

"I'm a married woman," she replied. "I stopped trying to look good a long time ago."

"Ah that explains it," I said jokingly. "How was work?"

"Don't ask!"

"Alright then I won't," I replied knowing full well that I was going to hear this story anyway about whatever incident she had brought home with her.

"We had a real pig of guy staying at the hotel. First of all he insisted that his company had paid for him to have a luxury suite and we only had a receipt for a standard room so naturally he demanded to speak to the manager, oh uh that would be muggins here, and I had to spend thirty five minutes repeating myself that he could only have the luxury room if he was willing to pay the extra one hundred and twenty five cubits."

"You should have done what I would have in that situation; shoot him."

She smiled in amusement. "Unfortunately I left my gun in my other purse."

"Well that was silly. So what did you do?"

"Well I wasn't going to back down and after thirty five minutes I think he figured that out."

"Did he pay the extra cubits?"

"Unfortunately for Mr. Blight he had to make do with a standard room. Then after that I had to deal with the hot water going off on the third floor…" Her sentence was cut out by the sound of a car horn beeping outside. It was a horn I recognized but nevertheless I went to the window to confirm it. "Who is it?"

Pulling the curtains to the side I saw the rather ominous looking car that had beeped its horn parked on my driveway with its lights on and its engine still idling with a low growl. The rain was lashing against its bodywork creating a hazy spray around it.

"It's Jordan," I explained letting the curtain fall back into place.

"What does he want with you on a Saturday night? Have you been working today?"

"I just checked a few things out for him that's all. You and Archie were out so I thought it would be ok."

"Why does he always ask you? Why not that other Agent, what's her name, Youngblood?"

"It's complicated," I replied trying not to get into office politics with her.

"Complicated? Really?"

"Yeah," I said as I reached for my jacket. Even though he was parked just a few feet from my front door I knew that rain this heavy was going to soak me through to the bone even if I was exposed to it only momentarily.

"It just seems a little odd that's all. A few months ago you two were at each other's throats and now he's Director you're suddenly his golden boy."

"Yeah well a lot has happened since then. I think since he was shot Jordan is having trouble trusting people. Who can really blame him. At the time he was the only one who suspected that something was up at the GDD and I think he's still suffering the fallout from that. I think I'm probably the only one left he truly trusts. We've known each other since we were kids before everything got _complicated_." The car horn beeped again. "I won't be long."

I opened the door and ran the short distance to Jordan's car before opening the passenger side door and climbing in before quickly closing it. I found myself sitting beside a rather blank-faced Jordan Duram whose cane was resting in the footwell of the passenger seat. I moved it to the side to make it more comfortable to sit in the car before he took it off me and placed it in the back of the sedan.

"Don't you have a home to go to?" I asked him.

"Nothing there for me except a stray cat who eats through my garbage bags and drags the contents across my yard, what would I want to go there for? Your message said you had something about Sarno."

"I said that I may have something for you," I corrected him wanting to make sure that he understood me. "What would you say if I told you that Sarno came into contact with a leading member of the Ha'la'tha crime syndicate less than twenty four hours before he died?"

"I'd say you were teasing me," he said as dryly as he looked. "Who is it?"

"Joseph Adama; you know him?"

"Refresh my memory," he said.

"He used to go by the Caprican name Adams but after his wife and daughter were killed he had a sudden resurgence of Tauron patriotism and changed it back to his birth name of Adama. He was one of the many war orphans brought here from Tauron during the first uprising and while in an orphanage here he was recruited by the Ha'la'tha for the public face of their little organization. He's now their main lawyer. He works nearly all their cases whenever they get to court,_ if_ they ever get to court providing any witnesses haven't suddenly dropped off the twelve worlds, nearly all of which he either wins or his clients jump planet while on bail. We know that he was involved in the recent overthrow of the former…_Guatrau_ I think they call their boss and is quite close to the new one."

"Is he frakking her?" asked Jordan remembering that the new head of the Ha'la'tha was a woman.

"I don't think so. He has remarried and his new wife's got a kid on the way."

"So what was he doing talking to Sarno?" asked Jordan who obviously wanted me to now cut to the chase.

"This you're really going to love," I said knowing he had a history with the name I was about to mention. "Graystone, as in Daniel Graystone of Graystone Industries and of course his lovely wife Dr. Amanda Graystone. Sarno was conducting an interview, a kind of follow up to that one we all remember from a few months ago, at the Graystone's place and Adama turned up just as they were finishing."

"Well what was Adama doing at the Graystone's place?"

"I don't know. I got all this from a recording made by the film crew during the interview, it was one of the pieces of evidence Galanos was kind enough to handover. Adama showed up at the end just before they stopped filming."

"Hmm.." murmured Jordan as he thought for a moment before explaining, "We've suspected that Graystone had links to a crime syndicate for a while now. My money was actually on those Basileus boys from Canceron. Looks like it's actually the Ha'la;tha, damn, never saw that coming."

"There is something else I think you should know. Joseph Adama has a brother, Sam, and he is one of their top hitmen."

"Do you really think the Graystones asked for the Ha'la'tha to take out Sarno?"

"It's possible. Maybe Daniel Graystone wasn't too pleased about the damage Sarno did to his reputation after Zoe Graystone turned suicide bomber. Maybe Graystone wanted to give Sarno a chance to redeem himself, maybe even apologise, by doing the interview and arranged with Joseph to have Sam ready as a back up to take out Sarno in revenge if the interview didn't go well?"

"So you think the motive for Graystone is revenge for Sarno helping Graystone Industries fall from grace just before they introduced those Cylon things?"

"Well Graystone did lose millions of cubuts. That's enough to piss off anyone. There is another possibility," I said suddenly remembering something I had read in Adama's file.

"Go on!"

"Joseph Adama's wife and daughter were both killed in the Maglev bombing. It's possible that they met during one of the memorial services and are just friends."

He looked at me incredulously. "Do you honestly believe that?"

The truth was I didn't. "I just thought I'd throw it out there."

"What about Galanos, is he cooperating?" he asked.

"So far. I think he knows that we're going to get in on this case before long and he doesn't want the political backlash that comes from fighting us on this. He resisted but he I knew was going to give in, I could see it."

"Ok, good job. I'll get back to the office and start taking a closer look into Graystone and Adama. I'll call you tomorrow."

"Y'know Jordan it is a Saturday. Why don't you come in for a bit? Have a drink."

"No thanks, I got to get home soon so I can catch that furry little frakker whose going through my garbage. Some other time though. You get back to your family. Emma will be wondering what's taking so long."

I knew he wasn't going to agree to it. He was now more estranged to the world than anyone I had ever met but I hoped that one day he would come back. Rebuffed I therefore took his advice and made my exit back into the heavy rain.


End file.
